Monochrome Adventures - A BlackWhite Unova Fanfic
by RailgunKizami
Summary: Four friends embark on a journey from Nuvema Town: Hilbert, Hilda, Cheren and Bianca. Unova is rocked by earthquakes originating from Hoenn, where the two legendary Pokemon Kyogre and Groudon reside. But what happens when Team Plasma and the two teams that caused the earthquake side with each other to destroy the world of Pokemon? HilbertxHilda, rated T
1. Black's Beginning

**Monochrome**

He was from Nuvema Town. Fourteen and a half. A lanky five feet seven inches, he always dressed in a black tee covered up by with a partially zipped blue jacket. He always wore a maroon cap peaked with the emblazon of a Pokeball in black over his wild, messy brown hair. He usually had an oolong grey colored bag slung over his shoulder, and constantly put on brown colored pants.

His name was Hilbert Ebony, but most people called him 'Black'. It was certainly not because of his personality, but rather due to his last name Ebony. Ebony was another term for black, after all. Black was a quick-minded and passionate boy, rearing up to be the greatest Pokemon trainer of the Unova region.

Black was a mere four years old when he moved to Nuvema Town; he had lived in Sinnoh before this until his parents decided to move to Unova. At the age of three he started to understand the concept of what Pokemon were, and he was utterly fascinated by them. Since then, Pokemon had been his passion, his goal. And at the age of four was when Black met three children of similar age as him, Cheren, Bianca, and Hilda.

He loved to hang out with his friends, and talk about Pokemon and what fun would the battles bring. A year after his migration to Unova, he even persuaded the ditsy Bianca to sneakily take her father's Pokemon so that they could try a real battle. However, although Black's plan was well planned, Bianca was not as careful as Black would like her to be. Her clumsiness ultimately led to her father finding out about the children's plans, and needless to say, Black was scolded harshly for convincing Bianca to steal.

'But it's not stealing,' the five year old Black protested, 'it will teach us all, and help us properly communicate with Pokemon!'

'Nonsense!' Bianca's father, a stout man with greying hair and a mustache, roared. 'You do realize that my princess Bianca might be hurt?'

'But, dad – ' Bianca started to defend Black, but her father waved her of, indicating how much he spoiled her. 'If you want to know so much about Pokemon, use your own!' Bianca's father growled, and Black sighed, defeated. But Black followed whatever Bianca's father had said, and asked his parents for a Pokemon to call his own.

Black's parents thought him too young to wield the responsibility of a Pokemon, but they told him they would get him Pokeballs for his seventh birthday. Black was overjoyed then, and carefully waited the two long years, all the while discussing strategies with Cheren, Bianca and Hilda.

The time spent with each other let one another know about their personalities. The trio thought Black was a determined boy who stood up for his dreams and never backed down. To Black, Cheren was a bit lofty and arrogant, as he came from a well-to-do family, but he was protective of his friends, showing how much trust was between them. Bianca was a ditsy and clumsy girl but she was a kind and caring person, always fussing about their injuries and taking it onto herself to clean their injuries if they had gotten any. And Hilda, Black found her pretty; she was the intelligent one of the group, the most charming out of the quartet. She was also extremely sociable, having lots of friends, but sticking to this bunch.

Spending time with this group, and lots of Pokemon education, time passed fairly quickly and soon it was Black's seventh birthday – the day he would actually obtain his first set of Pokeballs.

'Happy Birthday, Black!' His friends and family chanted as he blew the fiery hot flame off the candle wax, eagerly checking out what kind of presents he got. The results were thrilling. Twenty Pokeballs from his parents, a book about Effective and Ineffective Moves from Cheren, a hundred dollars Poke money from Bianca and a hat from Hilda.

After receiving all the presents, Black enthusiastically beckoned his friends to join him in the tall grass, while his parents shouted at them to be safe. Their first few steps on Route One started, with long blades of grass looming all about them.

They spotted a bunch of Pokemon, Lilipups, Patrats, Purrloins, all of them cute and cuddly menageries. Black decided that he would try and catch a Lilipup, as Hilda had found them extremely cute, and he wanted to impress her, even if it was just a little.

'I will catch that Lilipup,' Black had said, 'I will be the best Pokemon Trainer in Unova!' Hilda had beamed at him, and Bianca and Cheren supported him with their thumbs up.

He plucked out a Pokeball from his satchel, and threw it, with all his might, at the small little Lilipup. The ball hit home, but immediately bounced off its body, unable to capture it. The small creature did not even bat an eye after that.

'Eh? Why can't it be caught?' Bianca, the ditsy one exclaimed. 'I should have weakened it first before trying to capture it,' Black muttered. 'Either way, it's still gonna be my Pokemon!'

Suddenly, something tripped Cheren, knocking him off balance, landing in a rather painful position – his backside. Bianca and Hilda giggled, while Black was put hard not to laugh. Cheren blushed and tried to defend himself, saying that something knocked him off his feet, but his friends were too busy laughing to even bother with his words.

Just then, Bianca had the same treatment as Cheren – her balance wobbled, and she fell onto the ground, letting out a cry of pain. Hilda and Black looked around, and found the culprit responsible for tripping Cheren and Bianca.

Poking its snout above the ground, three feet away, was a mole. A Pokemon named Drillbur, to be exact. Black let out a whoop of joy in witnessing a rarer Pokemon in the area and hastily threw a Pokeball at it, but the Drillbur was far too swift, digging straight down the grass and hiding from plain sight. The Pokeball, however, hit Lilipup's head, causing it to cry out. Lilipup's cry was not unnoticed by its kin, and soon a bunch of Lilipup gathered, only to part to make way for an enormous Stoutland. The Lilipup whimpered to the Stoutland, as if telling the Stoutland about the Pokeball hitting its head. The Stoutland in turn glared at Black and Hilda's direction, bounding over to them, growling.

Bianca and Cheren were horrified for their two friends, as Stoutland began to sniff Black and Hilda, to determine which of them had more fear, probably trying to guess the culprit that attacked Lilipup. The other Lilipup and Herdier gathered close by, watching the event.

Stoutland took a sniff at seven year old Black; he was afraid of Stoutland's great presence but was keeping his cool, holding his fear in. Stoutland decided that it liked the boy, and moved on to Hilda. It then took a sniff at seven year old Hilda, who was close to whimpering in fear, and let out a primal roar that shook the ground slightly, and alerted Drillbur. Drillbur was upset that its peace had been disrupted by Stoutland, but did not make a move; it simply poked its head above the ground. The other three had their gaze focused on Stoutland, but Black noticed the black mole Pokemon sneakily witnessing.

Stoutland steadily went closer to Hilda, who in turn backed away, slowly. She was extremely afraid of the large terrier Pokemon in front of her and did not notice her surroundings, so she accidentally tripped on one of Drillbur's dirty traps. Really, dirty dirt traps. Black, seeing this, locked eyes with Drillbur, who was smugly watching them about to get pounded by Stoutland. Black decided he wanted to wipe that smirk off Drillbur's face, and threw a Pokeball at the surprised Pokemon, who did not react fast enough to dodge.

The Pokeball shook a little, vibrating, as the mole tried to break free, but ultimately to no avail. The Drillbur had been captured by Black. 'Alright, mole,' Black whispered to the Pokeball, 'I know we've been off to a rough start, but I'd like you to be my friend.' Saying this, Black hurled the Pokeball toward Stoutland, releasing the Drillbur from its shell.

The Drillbur grinned slyly, and dug away from the scene, probably trying to get away, whilst Stoutland watched, averting its gaze from Hilda, who was sweating heavily with fear. Then suddenly Stoutland stumbled a little bit, probably due to Drillbur's digging. Stoutland, no longer interested in Hilda, roared loudly and stomped its massive foot on the soft earth, causing tendrils of vibration to scatter whilst its family watched. By now, a bunch of Pokemon was witnessing the spectacle, and they were watching the four children. Three were immobilized in shock and fear, while the bravest one of the lot was doing something rather reckless.

The moment Stoutland stomped on the earth, Drillbur popped out from the immense force, and Stoutland charged at it, headbutting it painfully into the air where it squealed in agony. Feeling like he could not watch any longer, Black hurtled toward Drillbur, catching it like a cushion, but stumbling under the weight of the mole. Stoutland was rushing toward them, about to take the both of them down, when Black returned Drillbur into its Pokeball, taking the full brunt of Stoutland's Take Down.

Black shrieked in pain, while Cheren had started moving toward Stoutland with a branch, trying to get its attention off his friend. Bianca was also up and moving, but she was holding her head and running around in circles, trying to think of something. Hilda, however, grabbed Black's satchel and threw a Pokeball at one of the Lilipups, hoping to get the attention of Stoutland. Not surprisingly, it worked, and Stoutland left the aching Black on the ground, while Drillbur guiltily pounded on the Pokeball, wanting to help its new master, Black, who had cushioned his fall and protected him from the Take Down.

Stoutland was about to do a Take Down on Hilda when rain started to fall from the sky. A thunderstorm was brewing, and all the Pokemon started to hurry to find shelter. Stoutland stopped charging, and glared at the four friends, stopping at Black. It wagged its tail like it was trying to salute Black's bravery, and trudged off. Bianca, Hilda and Cheren took Black's belongings and carried him back to his house. However, before they lifted him from the ground, a dark figure atop a cloud passed by them.

When Black's parents saw him all bruised and muddy they had screamed and they had grounded him from going to the tall grass, while the parents for the other children merely shouted at them to get themselves clean, they were as dirty as a trash dump and smelled like mud.

However, lying on the bed, Black smiled to himself. He took a lot of effort to raise his bruised hand to grab the Pokeball on the table beside his bed, and lifted it up, grinning at the Drillbur, who guiltily looked away from its master.

'Aw, c'mon, mole, we gotta be friends anyways, you're my pal now, you hear me? You're my Pokemon! I'm officially a Pokemon trainer today –' Black paused to cough for a bit. 'You're my buddy now, mole. I gotta think of a nickname for you. You like to dig a lot, don't you?'

Drillbur nodded excitedly at the sound of the word 'dig'. Digging was its life, its job, the thing it was best at.

'Well then, I'm gonna call you Drill from now on! Man, can't wait 'til I actually get a Pokedex.'

The mole Pokemon stared at him blankly.

Black started to explain. 'It's a device that helps me identify what kind of Pokemon a Pokemon is. I don't understand, though. Other regions a few trainers can get their Pokedexes at age ten, I have to wait until age fourteen.' Black grumbled a bit at the last sentence.

And so, Drill was Black's first Pokemon. For many more to come.

 **NEXT ON MONOCHROME – WHITE'S PROLOGUE!**

 **DON'T MISS OUT! REVIEW, RATE, AND FOLLOW! CRITICISM AND PRAISES ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!**


	2. White's Journey

**She** was from Nuvema Town as well. A little bit older than Black, by a few months, and standing at a modest height of five feet five inches, she always wore a black vest over a white singlet. Like Black, her chestnut brown hair was also tucked in a white cap emblazoned with a pink symbol of the Pokeball, and she had a bag similar to Black's, slung over her shoulder, but it was pink instead of dark grey, and she constantly wore cyan shorts that were slightly tearing at the edges.

Her name was Hilda Ivory, but most called her 'White'. It was slightly due to her personality; most people that knew her described her as a sweet girl. And it was mostly due to her name, Ivory, which was another term for White.

White was born in Nuvema Town, and were friends with Cheren and Bianca since they were toddlers. She loved Pokemon, always loved to steal peeks of her parents' Braviary and Deerling as they trained in the backyard. She met Hilbert when they were both four, and Cheren, Bianca, and the two of them became fast friends.

She waited for the day they would receive their Pokemon from the Professor, together with Pokedexes, thus beginning their Pokemon journey, but the Professor in the region decided that ten would be a rather immature age to wield a Pokedex, and thus stated that the age be fourteen years. It did not necessarily have to mean that the child would have to celebrate their fourteenth birthday first, rather, it was New Year's Day, the year that they would turn fourteen.

White was jealous of Black's Pokemon, Drillbur; it seemed really intriguing to own a Pokemon, all the fun that would come with it. White loved reading books, not as much as Cheren but enough to feed her brain a wide array of Pokemon knowledge.

On New Year's Day, when the quartet would turn fourteen, they all gathered in Black's house to celebrate, and to get going to the Professor's lab. "What starter would you guys choose, Snivy, Oshawott, or Tepig?"

Bianca squealed at the mention of Oshawott, and instantly started saying that she would choose the otter Pokemon. Cheren decided that he preferred Snivy, as his favorite color was green, although he did not share the information with his peers, and merely said he chose Snivy because it looked the smartest. Black sat there thoughtfully as Bianca and Cheren egged him on, while White was wondering what he would choose. 'Tepig, maybe, since the other two already picked their separate pieces and he did not want to spark any tension between them,' White thought. 'Meanwhile, I'd like to pick an Oshawott as well.'

As the clock struck twelve, a new year had begun, so had a new day, and the four friends cheered in celebration, as the day was their beginning, them becoming a Pokemon Trainer with Pokedexes, and they were barely able to contain their respective excitement, all except Black, who whooped and shouted out of the window that he was going to be the best Trainer in Unova. White merely shook her head and smiled, enjoying the idea of travelling around the world of Pokemon and exploring, when suddenly the doorbell rang, and the spell broke, all of them excitedly rushing down to check what it was. As Black swung the door open, a mailman was there, holding package that had the Pokemon Lab address. The mailman left almost immediately and the four of them were left to discover what was in the package.

Not wanting to spoil the surprise, Black lifted the box up to his room, his friends tailing closely behind. As Cheren removed the cover of the box, the four stared inside the box. There were six Pokeballs, there were two of Oshawott, two of Snivy, and two of Tepig.

Bianca's hand darted forward, grabbing the Oshawott Pokeball and whooping with joy, while Cheren merely stared at her in amusement. "Bianca, stop shaking the Pokeball, you're liable to give the Oshawott brain damage," Cheren smirked. Bianca merely pouted, and stopped moving around, tossing the Pokeball down on the floor. The Pokeball exploded, revealing a small otter with a scalchop as a tail, and Bianca was delighted at such a cute starter. White watched as Black scratched his head and selected the Tepig, then placing the Pokeball containing the Tepig beside his Drillbur. Cheren then laid his thin fingers on the Pokeball containing Snivy, grinning inwardly as he knew he was on the road to become best trainer in the world. He did not tell the others this, but he secretly had the same dream as Black. Cheren let Snivy out of the Pokeball to explore its new surroundings.

White was the last to select a Pokémon. She had originally wanted an Oshawott, but now, as the three Pokeballs were laid in front of her, she was spoilt for choice and was unsure of which to choose. Black smiled gently and beckoned at her to select one; he could not wait to get his Pokedex. Bianca was smitten with her confused Oshawott which was staring at its trainer with an unsure expression. Cheren impatiently stomped the floor, waiting for his Pokedex.

White decided upon Tepig, the same as Black's choice; while Black raised an eyebrow about her choice, as she had said she would pick Oshawott. However, he did not say anything and was unconsciously thrilled that he and she would be sharing the same starter.

"Now then," Cheren said excitedly, as they all had gotten their Pokedexes, "We've got our Pokedexes!" Bianca exclaimed, "Yeah, we have, how about a Pokemon Battle, then?"

Black and White nodded, but Cheren shook his head. "As much as I'd love to test Snivy's strength right now, a Pokémon battle indoors would be rather messy." Bianca pouted, "Aw, what a spoilsport!"

Black cut in, "Cheren's right, but Bianca's right as well. I say we go for it, provided that we try to keep the damage to a minimum." Bianca, happy that Black had supported her opinion, whooped and said, "Come on, White, you versus me!"

"Oh, alright," White smiled. It would be her first ever experience battling; although she had studied about Pokémon, the real experience was much more different from the books.

"Go, Tepig!" White tossed the ball, releasing the small pig out of the red and white capsule, when her Pokedex started tingling _. "Tepig, the fire pig Pokémon,_ _it blows fire through its nose. When it catches a cold, the fire becomes pitch-black smoke instead."_ The Pokedex stated, likely in a Professor's voice.

"Let's do our best, Oshawott!" Bianca's Pokemon was already out of its capsule, and looking at Tepig with a confused glare, as if disliking what it saw. Tepig returned the gaze with an even more intimidating glare.

"Alright, Tepig, let's see what you can do," White said, checking Tepig's moves in her Pokedex. She spotted Tackle and decided it as a first move. "Tepig, use Tackle!" Black remembered that Pokemon could learn new skills and moves as their training progressed, or based on their emotions, and told them all. "Guys, you know that your Pokemon can learn new skills as they train, right? And they also can do special moves according to emotions as well."

Cheren nodded, and noted to himself to remember that bit of information. The battle continued between White and Bianca, and both their Pokemon were equally matched.

"Oshawott, hit Tepig with your scalchop!" The Pokemon obeyed, sweeping its scalchop tail to smack Tepig in the face, causing it to snort in pain, smoke dribbling out of its nostrils.

"Tepig, try to surround Oshawott with your smoke!" Tepig listened, and used the jet-black smoke to engulf Oshawott, causing it to have reduced vision and affected its lungs. "Now, Tepig, tackle Oshawott once more!" The pig plowed into the otter, and the otter was left out of energy, spent, falling to the flooring of Black's house and fainting.

"Nooo, Oshawott!' Bianca whimpered as she cradled her fallen Pokemon like a baby, returning it to its Pokeball.

Cheren patted her back shyly and told her words of encouragement, causing her to blush like a tomato. Meanwhile White was immensely happy that she had won her first Pokemon battle and overcome her opponent, Bianca. Black was happy for her, and congratulated her, while their Tepigs sniffed each other curiously. After a few seconds, the two Tepigs cuddled around each other contentedly, catching the attention of Black and White.

The four of them noticed that Black's room was askew and messy with traces of smoky marks from Tepig, and White and Bianca hurriedly apologized to Black, who just waved it off with a grin.

Black then turned on his Pokedex, and scanned the two Pokemon, while White observed what he was doing. He saw that White's Tepig was a female and his was a male, to his amazement. "No wonder the two of them are cuddling together," Black deduced, while White stared at the two Pokemon. Suddenly something crossed White's mind – since she and Bianca had already had a battle, it was time for the two males to fight.

"Cheren, Black," White said, catching their attention. She continued, "It's time for you guys to have a match with each other, like me and Bianca. Besides, Black's room is already trashed, so there's no point in not battling."

Black grinned. He was going to put all his experiences with his Drillbur to the test with his new partner, Tepig. Cheren merely flashed a grim smile, replaying all the Pokemon techniques in his head. Bianca had stopped whimpering about messing up Black's room and enthusiastically watched the battle from the side. White did the same as Bianca, and wondered who would turn out to be the winner of the battle.

"Come out, Snivy!" Cheren threw his Pokeball on the floor, whilst the grass snake Pokemon grimly surveyed Black. Black nodded to Cheren, signaling that the battle started. He then tossed his own Pokeball out, releasing the Tepig which snorted black smoke, and stared down Snivy which was slightly taller. Meanwhile, all of their Pokedexes reacted to the two Pokemon.

 _"_ _Tepig, the fire pig Pokemon, it can deftly dodge its foe's attacks while shooting fireballs from its nose. It roasts berries before it eats them."_

 _"_ _Snivy, the grass snake Pokemon, it is very intelligent and calm. Being exposed to lots of sunlight makes its movements swifter."_

"I may be at a type disadvantage here," shouted Cheren, "but I'm not gonna back down from a challenge!"

Black grinned at Cheren's imposing threat and then ordered his Tepig to whip at Snivy with its tail. Snivy tried to dodge, but Tepig's tail wasn't aiming for it, it was merely lowering its defense. Snivy jolted back in surprise at Tepig's swift motion as Black commanded it to headbutt Snivy. There was hardly any time to dodge, but Cheren kept a cool composure and directed Snivy to slither around the charge.

"Not bad at all, Black. But not good enough." Cheren remarked coldly as he flicked his wrist, ordering Snivy to whip its vines on the coarse black coat of Tepig. Tepig squealed in distress, failing to dodge the accurate vines that struck it.

Meanwhile, Black was observing Cheren's battle style, noting that he barely had love for Pokemon, caring mostly about the strengths. He wanted to lose to feed Cheren's ego and satiate his hunger for strength, but if he lost, Cheren might look down on him, and he did not want that. So he decided to end Cheren's Snivy with an attack he would not expect.

"Well, Black, what's on your mind?" Cheren said, noting Black's silence and deep thinking. Black looked up with a neutral expression on his face and directed Tepig to throw stones at Snivy, a few hitting their mark.

"What's Black doing?" Bianca asked White, who shrugged, and continued looking at the battle. Cheren was surprised at such a simple move that damaged his Snivy, but did not say anything. "Snivy, now for the finale!" The grass snake looked expectantly at Cheren, bruises covering its face.

"Leaf Tornado!" Cheren smirked as he uttered those two words that gave him assurance of victory. Black grinned at the sudden change of atmosphere, and told Tepig to burn the leaves with incinerating heat, causing a smokescreen that fogged up the area. When the dust cleared, both trainers and Pokemon stood in Black's house, tired but still standing, whilst Bianca and White had their attention glued to the scene.

Cheren smiled, returning his Pokemon into its ball. "Well played, Black."

Black returned the smile, and patted Tepig on its head. "You did well, Tepig. I'm proud of you," he said. Bianca was surprised it was a draw; she had expected Cheren to win.

"You guys were totally amazing!" Bianca said, wobbling unsteadily on the black soot on the floor. Cheren adjusted his glasses and nodded, accepting the compliment gratefully, but replied, "However, Black's room is a mess. What shall we do now?"

"Umm…" Bianca stuttered, whilst Black merely started cleaning the mess. "We're all in this together, aren't we? So let's clean up together." He said with a smile. White agreed with his thinking and started to take the broom and sweep the charcoal colored flooring, when a hand shot out to grab the broom. White looked up and saw Black taking over her cleaning with a smile. White's face flushed a little bit but she waved it off by saying, "It's a rather hot day, isn't it?"

Just then, Black's mother entered the room, and saw the huge mess they had done. Bianca covered her ears to prepare for a scolding. Cheren merely hid in the corner, but Black walked up to his mom and told her they were going to clean up the mess they had made from battling. White was impressed with his confidence, but only a little bit, because Black was talking to his mother.

"Come on, now, Cheren, Bianca! I'm not gonna scold you guys over having fun! You guys go on ahead to the Professor's lab, now, I'll just clean up, and that's my job, no?"

White thanked Black's mother, but insisted that she at least help out a little bit. "You three go on first, I'll help Black's mom clean this place up."

Cheren nodded in thanks to White, Bianca was so touched by White's offer to help Black's mom and ended up tripping on the charcoal floor, while Black was at a loss of words. He felt like he should've been the one helping, but White had made it clear she was going to do it. So he offered as well.

"Mom, you should relax. Me and White got this, okay?" Black said in an assuring voice. Although his mother did not seem convinced, she let the two of them do because of 'specific reasons' she would not tell them. Then she went off giggling into the kitchen.

"Your mom's real cool, Black," White said, offering a smile. Black could only beam in pride; his mom was a kind and lenient person, buying him Pokeballs on his seventh birthday. "Well then, let's get this done, shall we?"

Little did they know Black's mother was chuckling because she felt that White would've been a good daughter-in-law. But they were still too young, she mused.

After the tedious clean up, the two of them headed over to the Professor's lab, Cheren was stomping his foot in impatience while Bianca was teaching her Oshawott a game of rock, paper, and scissors. The two of them were waiting for Black and White in front of the Professor's lab.

"Alright, now that you all are here, let's get on with it," Cheren hastily said as he barged into the thick steel doors of the laboratory. His other three friends followed suit, and entered.

Sitting on a chair in front of a computer with advanced technology and information about Pokemon was the Pokemon professor herself. She was engrossed in her ongoing research about the three different starters she had handed over to Black's house, and it took a courageous Black to clear his throat to catch the attention of the professor.

"Who…?" Prof. Juniper turned around to see the four friends standing before her, Pokeballs in their belts and bags and all of them fully dressed for the journey ahead. "Why, it's Hilbert, Hilda, Cheren, and Bianca! How are you all? I hope the Pokemon I have given to you didn't disappoint you?"

"Not one bit, Prof! And please, call me and Hilbert 'Black' and 'White'," White smiled at the Professor's amicable nature.

"Right, let's get going. My name is Professor Aurea Juniper, and I was the one who gave you all your Pokemon and your Pokedexes," she stated. Black waved it off, saying, "Don't need to be so formal, we already know who you are, Prof!"

The professor grinned. "For such a big occasion, I need to be formal. Straight to the point, I can't be letting you four go on a journey without these!" She opened her bag and inside was twenty Pokeballs. Black had long since used all his Pokeballs, and only successfully managed to catch a Drillbur.

"W-wow!" Bianca stared at the abundant supply of capsules. "P-professor, t-thank you!" The professor smiled at Bianca's gratefulness. Cheren didn't waste any time, nodding his head to the professor and grabbing five of the balls, and turned to go, but Black stopped him. "Shouldn't you thank the professor first?"

Cheren glanced at Black, radiating cold that even White could feel, but Bianca too oblivious to. He relented, however, and thanked Professor Juniper, not before uttering these words, "You are now my rival. Don't expect any mercy from me, Hilbert Ebony." With those words, he walked off, leaving Black with a confused expression on his face. Professor Juniper simply shook her head and smiled. She knew that Cheren had the same dream as Black; to conquer Unova's Pokemon League and become the Champion.

"What was that about?" Bianca asked Black, but his shoulders merely sagged. "Cheren's now my rival. I'm going to have to train," Black said with a trace of his old smile. "Bianca, go follow Cheren, I'm sure he doesn't mind your company. After all, when the four of us meet again, we can have a double battle."

"O-okay, Black, you can count on me. Well, see ya, guys! Bye-bye!" Bianca took the professor's Pokeballs, thanking her again, and went off, tripping on the stairs leading to the front door, and continuing to go after Cheren.

Black and White each received their share of Pokeballs, and waved to Professor Juniper, who continued with her engrossing research on Tepig, Oshawott, and Snivy. "Those kids… I wonder who'll be the Champion," she mused to herself.

"Don't worry, Black, Cheren's just a bit upset that he couldn't beat you in battle," White patted his back, earning a smile from him. "I guess I overthink too much, don't I?" He said as they crossed the tall grass on Route One.

"Yeah, you do. Want to have a battle to wipe those thoughts out?" White began grinning, waving her Pokeball in front of him. Black agreed, and the journey had finally begun.

 **NEXT ON MONOCHROME - WHITE VS BLACK! AND STRIATON CITY!**

 **DON'T MISS OUT! REVIEW, RATE, AND FOLLOW! CRITICISM AND PRAISES ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!**


	3. Natural Harmonia Gropius, N

**SO SORRY FOR THE LONG WAIT - was at the beach for four days and thus unable to surf the net (was banned from bringing laptop) Anyway, here is my chapter, hope you all enjoy it!**

 **Two** friends crossed the grass to Accumula Town, healing their Pokemon from the previous battle. Black was in a bad mood, and grumbling, as he did not manage to win against the owner of the female Tepig, White. White was grinning from ear to ear as she was on a winning streak of two, having beaten both Bianca and Black.

As the two of them sent their Pokemon for healing, they discussed about the battle that occurred ago. "Why did you start off with ember?" White asked Black, who was still rather grumpy, but in the mood to have a small conversation. After all, he did want to know his mistakes in the battle to improve.

"I started off with ember to go easy on you," Black smirked, causing White to punch him on the shoulder. "Come on, tell me seriously, why? Tepig is a fire type; ember does not really affect it." White persisted. Black sighed, "I was aiming for the slight chance of burning your Tepig, which would be really useful. Fire types can still be affected by fire moves, even by just a slight bit."

"But that move you used just now was a really good one, although it was kinda risky, you know," Black continued. White had asked Tepig to perform a take down on Black's Pokemon, which resulted in the finishing blow, but left her Pokemon seriously injured.

"Sometimes, Black, you got to just attack the opposing Pokemon instead of reducing its accuracy. It's all about luck as well, and it's safer to do things right. Ever heard of the phrase 'better safe than sorry'?" White said, noting his frequent use of smokescreen in the previous battle.

Black sighed once again, as the duo collected their freshly healed Pokemon, thanking the nurse who merely nodded and smiled. White had caught a Lilipup; which she always had wanted, while Black caught a Patrat. The useful information was stored in their Pokedexes and sent to the Professor everytime they caught a new Pokemon, thus making way for further research.

White and Black stepped out of the Pokemon Center building, and heard a loud commotion, which caught their attention. They looked over and saw a man with green hair from the distance, wearing a red eyepiece and a cloak. His grey robe had a symbol of a shield with the letter P emblazoned on his left breast. He was surrounded by many people wearing grey robes with the same symbol emblazoned on their left breasts, wearing grey hoods and looking like his henchmen. He seemed to be telling the crowd of people living in Accumula Town something, and White decided to go over, Black following her.

"Citizens of Accumula Town, my name is Ghetsis, and on behalf of Team Plasma, I am here to represent the campaign of liberating Pokemon. I am very confident that almost all of you own a Pokemon, is that right?" The green haired man said, earning nods from the crowd. He then continued, "I know you all think your Pokemon are happy being with you, but have you ever thought what they have really felt?"

The crowd was chittering nervously, asking each other whether owning a Pokemon was right, some agreeing with the man while some believed that his speech of Pokemon Liberation was just nonsense.

Ghetsis's voice rose above the crowd, "People and Pokemon can be friends, but don't you think by owning Pokemon, you are changing their nature to your own? Pokemon that used to eat berries and play in the wild are now forced to eat your food scraps and forced to battle unwanted battles."

The crowd grew silent. Ghetsis continued, "The purpose of Team Plasma is to liberate Pokemon. Believe me or not, I am merely telling this on behalf of Team Plasma and Pokemon. Thank you for your kind attention." With those words, he swept his cloak and turned around, his members of Team Plasma accompanying him.

"What was that about?" Black said as they stared after the strange group with suspicious eyes. White shrugged, "Must have been some bunch of crazy nuts who decided they wanted to free Pokemon."

The group of people that had listened to Ghetsis's speech were having a heated debate amongst each other. Some were saying, "It's true, the man's right, we need to free our Pokemon!" Some were saying, "Pokemon are our friends, and I don't care what others say."

Slowly, the crowd dissipated, leaving Black, White, and a boy with long flowing green hair tied in a low ponytail who seemed to be around their age as well, towering over Black by half a head. He waited until everyone had left, and walked toward the two friends.

"You've heard Team Plasma's speech just now. Do you believe in a world where Pokemon are free?" The boy with tea green hair spoke.

White and Black shook their heads in unison, and Black replied, "Without Pokemon, humans would be lost. The friendship between a Pokemon and a human is too deep to even separate the two."

"My name is Natural, but you may call me 'N'. May I have your names please?" N spoke.

Black pointed to himself and me. "I'm Hilbert, but you can call me Black. And the lady here is Hilda, call her White, please."

The edges of N's lips curled into a small smile. "I'd like to ask why you two are named after colors, but who am I to judge when my name is unorthodox as well?"

White chuckled, "Yeah, that's true."

N rubbed his hands together. "Anyway that's wasn't the purpose of my presence here," he said, bringing out his Pokeball. Black looked surprised at the sudden challenge. N continued, "I wonder, do Pokemon really want to be in the clutches of trainers? I can hear your Pokemon speaking to you, Black. Send out your Pokemon and fight me now!"

Black's eyes narrowed. "Are you actually agreeing with the nonsense that Ghetsis man was saying? Do I really have to beat you in a battle for you to change your mind?"

N tossed his Pokeball up in the air, releasing a purple colored cat from it. White and Black's Pokedex tingled and they took it out to see what was the notification.

Black's Pokedex: _"_ _Purrloin, the devious cat Pokemon, they steal from people for fun, but their victims can't help but forgive them. Their deceptively cute act is perfect."_

White's Pokedex: _"Purrloin, the devious cat Pokemon, it's cute act is a ruse. When victims let down their guard, they find their items taken. It attacks with sharp claws."_

Black and White looked at each other, confused as to why both Pokedexes did not give the same result.

"Alas, you trainers, first you confine your Pokemon in Pokeballs, then you capture their data in a Pokedex," N shook his head distastefully.

"Oh, yeah?" Black had his fists clenched in anger. "You confine your Pokemon in Pokeballs as well!"

"Once the world is through with confining these beautiful creatures in prison capsules I'll stop it. Purrloin, scratch!" N ordered.

Black's Tepig hardly had any time to dodge as the purple cat brandished its ruler-long claws and pounced, scratching its claws nail-deep into the pig's coarse hide. Tepig screamed in rage and agony, inhaling all the oxygen in the air to prepare to expel a blisteringly hot flame from its mouth and nostrils, bursting upon Purrloin's exposed face.

"Purrloin, next time that pig breathes fire, dodge!" The cat nodded.

White watched the intense battle as the two boys directed their Pokemon to clash with each other, both fighting in the same battle but a different cause, enemies. "Tepig, take that fat cat down!"

The fire pig charged toward the Purrloin, hitting it on target – in the stomach. The cat shuddered, its energy depleted, and fell toward the ground, only to be caught by N. N looked up at Black with a neutral expression; White had expected him to be angry.

"Once again, I have found another unsolvable formula. Why did your Tepig say it liked you, Black? That is something I will have to find out. Good-bye for now." Black and White stared after the slowly fading figure of N, who returned his injured Purrloin to its Pokeball, and walked away.

Black entered the Pokemon Center once more, exhausted, and asked the nurse to heal his Pokemon. "My, my," the nurse commented. "Your Tepig is severely injured. It has long, deep scratch marks upon its body. What sort of battle did you fight, kid?" Black was too tired to respond, so White answered for him.

"His Tepig fought against a Purrloin; both were equally matched but Black's spirit was stronger and he told his Pokemon not to give up." White said. The nurse smiled, and replied, "No wonder his Drillbur is snuggling beside him right now."

White's eyes widened and she turned around, noticing the Drillbur lay contentedly on Black's lap, out from its Pokeball without any command. Black noted her confusion and explained, "I let him out before we entered the Pokemon Center."

White sighed in realization, and beckoned Black to follow her out of the Pokemon Center to head for Striaton City, but as they stepped out of the cool, air-conditioned building, the nurse shouted their names, causing them to turn around.

"You kids need a place to stay? We've got a room here, and it's been a while since I saw people that tired," the nurse offered. White shook her head and smiled, grateful for the offer, but they weren't going to catch up with Cheren and Bianca at this rate. As they trudged across the route to Striaton City, Black looked at the Pokemon Center with longing, and groaned with every five steps he made.

Black was grumbling and complaining in sheer fatigue until White finally got fed up with his lazy attitude, and turned around and shoved him. "Stop being such a laze and get moving!"

Black nodded, exasperated, but suddenly his eyes widened. White noticed his sudden change in expression and turned around. Standing tall in the wild grass was a large bird with a wingspan wider than White's height. It stared at the two of them and emitted a loud, blood curling squawk that could be heard from a mile away, almost shattering White's eardrums and causing Black to shriek in slight pain.

Once the Pokemon had stopped squawking, it flapped its wings once and shot to the air with incredible speed, its focus still glaring straight at the two friends. Black was the first to react, tossing his Drillbur out for good measure. Drillbur was strong, stronger than Tepig, and trained, so Black knew his way around Drillbur. After all, they had been friends for seven years. In the amount of time Black trained Drillbur, he never once evolved. Black did not know why; it was either due to the lack of experience, or the lack of friendship, although he was rather confident it was not the second one.

White followed suit, tossing her Pokeball at the raptor, which swerved to avoid it. As it got closer, their two Pokedexes started to vibrate and cause noise.

Black's Pokedex: _"Braviary, the valiant bird Pokemon, they fight for their friends without any thought about danger to themselves. One can carry a car while flying."_

White's Pokedex: _"Braviary, the valiant bird Pokemon, the more scars they have, the more respect these brave soldiers of the sky get from their peers."_

"Alright, White, let's do this! Drill, use Rock Throw!" Black pointed at the sky where the dark shape of Braviary was hurtling toward them. The mole Pokemon obeyed, grabbing the nearest boulder it could find, and tossing it with full force at the raptor. The rock hit home, sending the Braviary meters away and causing it to utter that unearthly screech from before, but it was still conscious.

"Tepig, now's our chance to fight, use Rollout!" White directed the fiery pig, which was all pumped up and ready. The pig dashed forward, spinning forward like a Ferris wheel, and sped up quickly, colliding with the ghostly white feathers of the Braviary.

Both Black and White knew that the Pokemon was at a critical state; its feathers were ruffled, its chest had bruises and its beak was bent. However, the two of them had different ideas in mind. Black wanted to defeat it to give his Drillbur a feeling of pride, while White wanted to capture it and raise it as her own Pokemon.

"Drill, finish it with Iron Head!" The Drillbur followed its owner's instructions, charging toward the valiant bird Pokemon with extreme speeds that probably defied the laws of physics, but this was the world of Pokemon.

White saw that Black was about to perform the culling blow with Drillbur and acted, aiming at the raptor and throwing the Pokeball at it with surprising accuracy and sucked the Braviary in, causing Drillbur to miss it and plow into a tree.

Black stormed toward White, with a rather annoyed expression stuck on his face. "Why did you capture it? I could've done the finishing blow, let then you capture it!"

White smacked her head with her palm. "Oh man, that was my bad. But at least I got the Pokemon, no?" She said, waving the Pokeball containing Braviary in front of Black.

Black let loose a heavy sigh, when suddenly their Xtransceivers rang. They answered it at the same time, revealing two other faces – Professor Juniper and Bianca. "Hey, guys! How's it going with your Pokemon?" The Professor waved her hand jovially at the three friends, who smiled in response.

"I caught a Patrat, adding my total Pokemon collection to three," Black said. White grinned, saying, "I caught a Lilipup and a Braviary, adding my Pokemon collection to three, same as Black."

The Professor was glad to know that the kids were progressing fine. But Bianca had not answered. "What about you, Bianca?" The green haired girl wearing a beret stuttered; her tongue caught in her mouth. "W-well, I haven't had time to catch Pokemon; I'm still looking for Cheren, although my Oshawott is now quite trained due to the Pokemon trainers," she admitted in an unsatisfied voice.

"Well, it's alright to let Cheren be, I've seen this kind of thing happen in most trainers before," Professor Juniper gave a warm smile to Bianca. "Oh, right, where was I, do you all know how to check for specific Pokemon in your Pokedexes, right?"

White shook her head, and continued listening attentively to the Professor's words. Prof. Juniper continued, "You can use the habitat list I recently created in my labs. Don't worry, you guys don't need to come back to Nuvema Town, I'll just send the feature to you all via my secret method."

Not wanting to ask what was the secret method, Black instead asked, "What about Cheren? Has he received the feature?" Professor Juniper nodded. "I sent it to him without informing him in advance. Well, you three better check your Pokedexes now! I've got something up, something about 'Dream Mist', so I've gotta go! Have a safe journey!"

"Bye-bye, guys! I'll try to look for Cheren!" Bianca exclaimed as the Xtransceiver went dark. Black and White both turned on their Pokedexes, and identified the latest feature – the habitat list. It displayed a large variety of Pokemon are where they lived, making it easier to complete the Pokedex.

Black's Xtransceiver rang again. He answered it, and realized that the caller was his mother. "How are you, Black? And you, White? I'm just calling to deliver some packages to you two that I've bought, I'm sure it will be handy."

"Huh? Alright, mom, but where will you be? We're just at the tall grass leading to Striaton City from Accumula." Black said.

"I'm right behind you," his mother said as the Xtransceiver went dark for another time. Black and White turned around to spot Black's mother, who was carrying two medium-sized packages, and walking toward them at a steady pace.

"Here you go, son," the woman passed him a white-colored package. "And you, Hilda," she added, handing her a black-colored package similar to Black's.

White beamed at Black's mother's kind attitude. "Thank you, ma'am, and please, call me White."

The woman chuckled, "Only if you'll take care of my boy here." Black blushed and hastily looked away so as to hide his embarrassment. "Well then, take care, kids! I'm off to do some grocery shopping." His mother waved at the two of them and departed for Nuvema Town.

Black and White stood there for a good ten seconds before White broke the silence. "Well then, shall we discover what's in the packages?" Both of them tore open their respective parcels, revealing a Town Map for each other, black running sneakers for White, and white running sneakers for Black.

"Man, your mom really thought about all this stuff," White commented, marveling at the comfort of her new shoes. Black nodded, "Yup, she always thinks ahead."

"Sounds like a great mom," White mumbled as she hung her head in sadness. Black noticed her pace was slowing and turned behind to hug her. He could feel a slight dampness staining his jacket as she hugged back, but he did not care. White was his friend, and slight crush, and he would never have dared to embrace her but he did, because he sensed that she needed comfort now.

Four years ago, White's parents had gone to Hoenn for a trip by cruise, leaving White to stay at Black's house. All was fine until the news came and said that the cruise ship had sunk, and it was reported that nothing could be found, affecting White with devastating sorrow. Apparently, some organizations known as Team Aqua and Team Magma awoke two of the legendary beasts of Hoenn: Kyogre, the sea basin Pokemon, ruler of the ocean, and Groudon, the continent Pokemon, ruler of the land. While Kyogre was being awakened, the weather in Hoenn grew rough and choppy, and the seas were affected with tremendous wave turbulence, increasing risks of sinking.

Up till now, no news could be found concerning the sunken ship and White's lost parents, so ever since then White had lived in Black's house in one of the guest rooms. White had stayed inside her room for a whole week, crying and barely touching her food, until Black's mother intervened, comforting the poor girl with her embrace, and requesting her to weep it all out. Then she changed, becoming an even tougher girl, determined to forget her past and strive forward into the distant future.

However, no matter how tough a person is, he or she will break when a nerve is hit. And White was currently experiencing that right now, except this time Black was the one comforting her, not his mother.

"I-I'm alright, we should get a move on," White sniffed as she broke away from Black, and he nodded awkwardly, scratching his head and following her. They had some battles with the trainers that were on the same path as they were, each battle releasing some of White's stress and pumping Black up for the upcoming Gym Challenge – and their first badge.

Finally, after seven long hours from midnight since Accumula's Pokemon Center – it was already dawn – the two companions had reached their destination, Striaton City.

Their Pokemon were exhausted, so they headed for the Pokemon Center to heal up for the upcoming Gym Battle. As they waited for their Pokemon to be healed, White said, "Thanks for being here, Black." His face flushed a little but he managed to utter, "N-no problem, White. After all, you're my friend."

The Pokemon were healed, and they set off walking toward the gym, but a burly looking man stood there with his arms folded on his chest, giving off an intimidating impression to those who looked at him. Black somehow had enough guts to walk over to the man and ask why he was standing there.

"I'm guarding the gym while the Gym Leaders are not around," he said in a monotonous raspy voice, which chilled White's bones. But Black noted the 's' in leaders. "I beg your pardon, but you said Gym Leaders, did you not?" The man nodded. "So does that mean there is more than one leader?"

The man chuckled, his laughter a deep rumbling engine in the quiet serene dawn atmosphere. "You two are new to Striaton City?" White and Black nodded. "Well, let me tell you all this. There are three Gym Leaders in Striaton Gym: Cilan, Chili, and Cress. Each harbors a specific different type depending on the weakness of your Pokemon. For example, both of you have Tepig, so Cress will be your challenger."

Black nodded, understanding, but White had a question. "Do you know where they are right now?"

The man nodded, "Yeah, last I heard was that they were at the Trainer's School. Or maybe they went to train at the Dreamyard?"

The two friends thanked him who waved at them as they departed for the Trainer's School, which was just a couple of blocks away from Striaton Gym.

"Well, this is it," Black remarked, as they arrived at the old-fashioned school. "I guess they don't call it a school for nothing."

"Yeah, let's enter, shall we?" White asked as the two of them ventured inside. The interior of the school was completely different from the exterior; where the exterior was a run-down old-fashioned stone building, the interior was classy and air-conditioned with laminated wood floorings that were warm under your feet, which was important for early spring, where the weather was still rather cold.

Young school children ran about; some were fighting Pokemon battles of their own, some were studying the different statuses of Pokemon, and some were talking to each other. At the end of the first floor of the school was a familiar figure: Cheren. He looked tougher than before, with an aura of strength and cold around him. Cheren noticed his two childhood friends at the doorway of the Trainer's School, and walked towards them casually, stuffing his hands inside his pockets.

"How's it going, guys? I just met Bianca five minutes ago; she's now training at the Dreamyard. My rival, Black, are you willing to battle me once more?" Cheren's eyes strayed from Black to White. "Ah, White, I have not gotten a chance to battle you yet. Shall we, then?"

Black was stunned by Cheren's seeming friendliness; perhaps Bianca talked some sense into him, while White, though unwilling to have another battle, reluctantly agreed to humor Cheren.

"Let's try not to trash up this place like we did for Black's room, alright?" Cheren's eyes glinted with anticipation, his hand on his Pokeball.

"We'll see who trashes who instead of the school," White replied, a faint smile playing on her lips, her hand on her Pokeball as well. Black chuckled at her comment, curious to know the outcome of this battle.

"Let's go, Pidove, show White how it's done!" Cheren roared, releasing the pigeon Pokemon out of its capsule, where it squawked and stared at White and Black with unblinking eyes.

"Hmm, looks like it'll be a raptor battle!" White smirked in amusement, her eyes twinkling in excitement. "Time to pit your strength against the enemy, Brav!" She hurled the ball into the air, and as gravity pulled it down, it opened, revealing a five-foot-tall bird (approximate estimates, it's only about four feet eleven inches)

The pigeon Pokemon glared at the valiant bird Pokemon, which emitted a growl in response. The two circled around each other, waiting for their master to make an order. Cheren started the fight, barking, "Pidove, featherdance!" The pigeon Pokemon twirled its short, tiny wings in the pattern of a tornado, causing Braviary to look at it and feel bad about attacking it.

"Brav, look away from that pigeon, and instead fly up high in the sky!" The valiant bird Pokemon obeyed, speeding toward the sky and emitting a loud, sharp cry that echoed for miles about, leaving the Pidove frustrated – it was too small to be able to fly that high.

"Pidove, be prepared and endure for whatever comes next, because Braviary is a strong Pokemon!" Cheren shouted, and Pidove braced itself for the upcoming onslaught.

"Brav, use Sky Attack!" The large raptor shot down from the heavens, the air thickening around it as it reached its peak acceleration, slamming down upon the helpless pigeon Pokemon, which somehow managed to be still standing, although severely injured.

'Not bad, Cheren, you used Endure for your Pokemon. But will your Pokemon be quick enough to withstand another of Braviary's attacks?' Black thought to himself as he observed the clash between the two Pokemon.

"Pidove, use –" Cheren started, only to be interrupted by White's voice. "Brav, Quick Attack!" Braviary dove straight at Pidove, hitting it and knocking it unconscious. Cheren grinned in slight arrogance; clearly he had something up his sleeve.

"Get going, Servine!" He tossed his second Pokeball, releasing a green snake similar to Snivy but taller and looked stronger.

Black checked his Pokedex, which read, _"Servine, the grass snake Pokemon, it moves along the ground as if it is sliding. It's swift movements befuddles its foes, and it then attacks with a vine whip."_

"White, this is the evolved form of Snivy!" Black notified White, who merely rolled her eyes. "I can tell," she muttered.

"Brav, use Gust!" White ordered, her Pokemon following its instructions and whipping up a small tornado with its wings, headed toward Servine.

"Servine, protect yourself from Braviary's attack, and follow up with Headbutt!" Cheren directed his grass snake Pokemon who whipped up leaves which served as a barrier for the tornado, not harming it one bit, and then in one swift motion, Servine charged toward Braviary, hitting it in the chest hard, causing Braviary's health to deplete severely.

"Return, Brav! You've did your share of attacking, so it's Hog's turn!" White declared, returning the valiant bird Pokemon inside the Pokeball and pulling out another one from her bag. "Go, Hog!" A Tepig came out, and growled a little, baring its teeth at the opposing threat – Servine. "Servine, strike with Leaf Tornado!" Cheren yelled, as his Pokemon spun its tail around in a circular pattern, until a tall cloud of leaves were produced. Then the Servine batted the leaf tornado with its tail in the direction of White's Hog.

"Hog, counter Servine's attacks with Flame Charge!" The fire pig Pokemon obeyed, running head first into the cloud of leaves in a trail of fire. "Servine, protect yourself, now!"

The grass snake hastily tried to raise its leaves to defend itself from the fiery charge, but the fire pig was faster, diving past the barrier that Servine had formed and hitting it right on target, the flames thoroughly burning the grass snake Pokemon.

"What?!" Cheren yelled in confusion; Protect was a priority skill, and could rarely be countered by moves. But he had counted out the determination of the Tepig, and the speed of its Flame Charge, which was fast enough to avoid Servine's Protect.

"Hog, let's finish Servine off with Ember!" White shouted as the fire pig Pokemon sucked in all the available oxygen it could carry in its lungs, expelling it from its mouth in a blazing hot inferno of embers that bombarded the helpless grass snake Pokemon, which crumpled on the ground and fainted.

"And White is the winner," said Black, who cheered at seeing White overcome the boastful and arrogant Cheren's challenge. Cheren growled a little, but sighed. "Black, White, I will ensure that we have a battle the next time we encounter, which could well be after the both of you receive your first badge - the basic badge."

"By the way, Cheren, did the gym leaders enter the Trainer's School?" Black asked, and Cheren shook his head morbidly. "I think they're at the Dreamyard," were Cheren's final words as he continued reading the blackboard in the Trainer's School about berries. White and Black bid their farewells and they left for the Dreamyard, their bodies aching with exhaustion, and they decided to rest at the Pokemon Center until noon, leaving their tired Pokemon in the care of the kind nurse.

Once awoken, they felt refreshed and rejuvenated, and collected their Pokemon from the nurse, ready to set off for the Dreamyard. But before they start entering the Dreamyard, a woman clad in scientist overalls and glasses approached them with a pleading expression on her face. "Do you trainers by any chance know Professor Juniper? I was told that she handed Pokedexes to four trainers, and given them Tepig, Oshawott, or Snivy."

White answered, "Yeah, we're from Nuvema Town and we were two of the four trainers who received a Pokedex and a Pokemon from the Professor." The scientist clasped her hand in gratitude and cheered not a little loudly, scaring off the nearby flocks of Pidoves in the trees.

"Thank goodness! My name is Fennel, and I'm a scientist!" Fennel exclaimed in delight. Black shook his head in amusement. "Yeah, no kidding." White elbowed him in the ribs lightly. "So why are you looking for the four trainers that Prof. Juniper gave the Pokedexes to?" She asked Fennel.

"Well, there's something I'd like you trainers to check; Aurea told me you guys were capable of handling yourself so I'd like you guys to obtain some Dream Mist for me."

Black raised an eyebrow. "'Dream Mist?' What's that?"

"It's a mist emitted from Munna in the Dreamyard, and it can be used to connect trainers all around the world with it! But you see… I don't really have a Pokemon of my own…" Fennel frowned slightly.

White grinned. "No worries, we're tough enough to get that Dream Mist for you! You just wait in your lab; Black and I will get it done."

"Thanks, guys!" Fennel beamed, and bolted inside her laboratory.

"Strange lady," Black mumbled. White ribbed him once more, causing the boy to grunt in pain, but only slightly. The Dreamyard loomed ahead of them, the darkness starting to creep around them even though it was the afternoon.

White gulped and Black said, "Shall we go then?" The two friends crossed the dark meadow, trying to avoid any trainer dumb enough to pick a fight with their combined forces. Eventually, after walking for about three minutes, they noticed that the area was isolated and that no trainers were travelling around. A fog started to creep into the air, like mist, and it was violet in color.

"Is this… Dream Mist?" White asked in a hushed tone, and Black agreed. The mist started enveloping the two friends, and disappeared just as fast. Once the fog was cleared, in the middle of the clearing floated a Pokemon, which was purple in color, and emitted drowsy smog. "Mun…" it spoke, and turned around and moved in a slow sort of pace, as if beckoning them to venture further.

White turned on her Pokedex and scanned the Pokemon; sure enough, the data splattered all over the screen. _"Munna, the dream eater Pokemon, it eats the dreams of people and Pokémon. When it eats a pleasant dream, it expels pink-colored mist."_

Black peered over White's shoulder at the information displayed on the Pokedex. "Is this Pokemon emitting the Dream Mist that Fennel is searching for?" White nodded. "I would guess so, but who knows? Let's follow it." They traced the violet fog, following the Pokemon to wherever its destination was.

Suddenly, a sharp cry rang across the calm clearing. "Mun!" Black and White broke into a run, dashing across the meadow and skidded to a stop as the witnessed the dream eater Pokemon lying on the ground, a large boot mark imprinted on its magenta hide.

"Release some Dream Mist, you worthless piece of shit!" A man wearing grey robes emblazoned with a shield bearing the letter P, whom they presumed to be a member of the Pokemon liberating organization Team Plasma, stood tall over the helpless dream eater Pokemon. As he prepared his foot for another sharp kick to the side of Munna, a shout blasted from behind the man.

"Hey, stop that! Munna could be seriously injured!" White angrily said as she hated seeing people, even Pokemon, getting bullied.

"So what if it's injured? I'm doing my job, with orders from above. And Team Plasma doesn't need meddlers like you two in our way!" The man growled defiantly. Black glared at him, saying, "You really think you have a right to hit innocent Pokemon and claim to be part of a Pokemon liberating organization?"

The member of Team Plasma snorted. "Our goal is to liberate Pokemon from owners, even if we have to use force! And we need this Dream Mist to persuade the people of Unova, perhaps the whole world if we have to, that Pokemon need to be set free!"

"Your ideals are plain stupid, simple as that," Black continued. "Do I really have to kick your ass to prove that point?"

"You could try, runt! I don't mind if you team up with that girl over there; I'm willing to kick two asses today!" The Team Plasma guy sneered, resuming to kick the Munna one more time before pulling out a Pokeball of his own.

"My Sandile and Woobat are gonna eat you two for breakfast," The man grinned, tossing the two Pokeballs out in the open and releasing a Sandile and a Woobat. Too enthusiastic to start the battle rather than check information about the enemy in the Pokedex, Black and White just tossed a Pokemon each from their arsenal, Drillbur and Braviary.

Before the battle started, White whispered to Black, "I have an idea. Tell your Drillbur to listen to my orders and we can dominate that grunt over there." Black, who was wondering what her plan was, merely nodded, playing along.

"Brav, lift Drill up and fly high up!" The valiant bird Pokemon obeyed, lifting Black's mole Pokemon up in the air where it squealed, flailing blindly as its habitat, the earth, slowly faded in sight.

The Team Plasma Grunt looked high and low, scanning the azure blue skies tinted with a slight metallic grey for a Braviary lifting a Drillbur. "Woobat, look for their Pokemon! Sandile, you'll help me take their backpacks; I'm hungry." The grunt pointed toward Black and White's bags, and his Pokemon obeyed, the bat soaring in the air and the small crocodile diving for their items.

"Now, Brav, throw Drill headfirst at Woobat!" White shouted, and suddenly the mole Pokemon dropped from the sky, slamming its sharp snout on the confused Woobat, forcing it down toward the solid concrete. The Woobat squealed, shuddered, and flopped on the ground, faint with pain. The Sandile watched its comrade's plight and started to run off, but not before White issued another order for her trusty Braviary.

"Brav, use Brave Bird on Sandile!" White commanded, and Black could not help but gawk at the way she carried herself and Pokemon. She emitted a strong aura of confidence that radiated to the people around her, namely her allies. The opponent, the Team Plasma Grunt, was starting to feel the pressure of losing. Just before Braviary swooped down to deliver a head butt to Sandile in a kamikaze fashion, the Grunt retrieved both his Pokemon and started running off.

"What a coward!" Black shouted after him, but he did not respond; he was too focused to running away from the two friends. The Munna gratefully uttered its thanks at them, and floated off toward a bigger, older Pokemon that looked just like Munna, except expelled more Dream Mist from its mouths. Then they slowly disappeared in the same fog that led Black and White to them.

"Return, Brav! Nicely done," White smiled at her Pokemon as it was being sucked back into the red-and-white capsule. Black turned to his Drillbur, about to utter words of praise for his Pokemon like White did for hers, when suddenly his Pokemon started twitching and glowing.

"Drill, what's going on?" Black wondered out loud as his Pokedex started to tingle wildly; the light alerted White, who turned and saw the glowing mole Pokemon.

 _"_ _Excadrill, the sub terrene Pokemon, it can help in tunnel construction. Its drill has evolved into steel strong enough to bore through iron plates."_

"Whoa, that is one cool drill," White commented as the newly evolved Drill beamed in pride. Then the Excadrill started to sniff, and head off in a direction, notifying the two trainers to follow it with their line of sight.

"Where is it going?" White asked Black, but he was just as clueless. Drill stopped sniffing and crawling about, and starting digging down under. White and Black hurried over to the mole Pokemon, who hoisted up a small little bottle containing magenta colored mist that swirled around inside the container, fighting to get outside.

"This must be the Dream Mist that Fennel woman was talking about," Black muttered to White, who nodded in agreement. Black carefully lifted the bottle from his Pokemon and wondered aloud, "Why would the Munna be storing their Dream Mist inside these things?" White took the bottle from him and examined it, discovering a small little symbol of Team Plasma engraved in the glass. "This is a Team Plasma bottle. So I'm guessing we hand this over to Fennel?"

"You got that right, White," Black took the bottle back and the two set off back to Striaton City, where a Gym and a scientist was waiting.

After they had healed their Pokemon in the Pokemon Center, they headed up to Fennel's house just in front of the Pokemon Center, and trudged up the stairs, anxious to get the Dream Mist business over with. When they had reached the end of the stairs Fennel looked up from whatever she was doing and squealed in excitement when she saw the bottle containing Dream Mist, scurrying over to the two friends to grab it from them.

"This is the Dream Mist! Now I can finally enable you trainers to connect with each other in the world using C-Gear!" Fennel exclaimed delightedly. White bore a confused expression upon her face while Black just stood there blankly.

"Um… mind telling us what exactly is C-Gear?" Black asked, and Fennel said, "I already said! C-Gear enables trainers to connect with each other in the world!"

"So… how will this work exactly?" Black questioned again, and Fennel responded, "I already said! C-Gear enables trainers to connect with each other in the world!"

Black shrugged at White, who shrugged back. They were content with their Xtransceivers, Pokedexes and what not, but the idea of C-Gear was too vast and wide. Well, of course they could contact with the professional trainers from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, but it was apparent that C-Gear had just started to originate from Fennel's lab.

"Now, since you two helped me obtain the Dream Mist, I'll be giving two of these C-Gears out to you two for free! Normally I would charge it for $10000 apiece, but I'm grateful for your help, so I'll hand these over to you! I'll go and tell Aurea that I've completed this and inform her to hand these out to new Pokedex owners."

"Alright, thanks a bunch," White and Black accepted the C-Gear gratefully; it could possibly be a useful bit of technology in battles in the future. But as the two friends started to head off to Striaton Gym, a small impish girl wearing glasses too big for her eyes approached them, and spoke in a high-pitched voice, "Before you all go, here's a little something for you!" She handed two sets of Pal Pads, which, as she explained, would allow them to keep track of whoever they had battled or communicated before.

They thanked the little girl and headed downstairs, to the Pokemon Gym, where a green-haired man was waiting…

 **Criticism and advice on how to do better would be greatly appreciated; after all I am but a person and people make mistakes. Please kindly review, and if you haven't, please follow and favorite if you like it!**


	4. Cress the Watercress Gym Leader

**Heya, sorry I'm late for this one. Hopefully the length of the chapter will be just nice for you guys, so please enjoy!**

 **Cilan's** eyes twinkled in enthusiasm as he saw two trainers approach him, and he wondered which person among him and his friends would have the pleasure and opportunity to challenge the two trainers and beat them.

"Um, excuse us, we need to enter the Striaton Gym," the male spoke up, his slightly thin eyebrows furrowed under the shadow of his sturdy cap. His voice was neither high nor low, indicating that he was still in the adolescent stages of puberty, on the way to adulthood.

Cilan chuckled. "Alright, sure, but before that, may I have your names, please?"

"I'm White," the female introduced, "and my friend here is Black. We wish to challenge the Striaton Gym Leaders; by any chance are they in here now? We asked some burly guy guarding the gym just now and he said the Gym Leaders were off at either the Trainer's School or the Dreamyard, but we did not see anyone."

The green-haired man chuckled once more. "Oh, yes, I did see you two trainers defeat the cruel Team Plasma grunt; well done on that! I'll see if you two can fare against me and my brothers of Striaton City's Gym!"

Black and White's eyes widened. "Y-you're the Gym Leader?" Cilan nodded, saying, "I'm one of the Gym Leaders. Two of my friends are also the Gym Leaders; Cress and Chili."

"Hold up, you said they were your brothers, now you said they were your friends." Black noted. Cilan nodded. "Indeed, they are my friends; however I consider them my brothers due to the fact that we are old friends and have been close since we were younger. Well then! Shall you two begin your course in the attempt on getting your first badge – the Basic Badge?"

White grinned. "You got that right! So who will we be facing?" Cilan shrugged. "Depends on the Pokemon you have. Mind showing me what's in those Pokeballs of yours?" Black and White pulled out their two respective Pokeballs from their bags and Cilan scrutinized their Pokeballs, identifying which Pokemon types would be effective against them. Sweat beaded the foreheads of Black and White at the green-haired man's actions as they anticipated having a Pokemon battle and earning the Gym badge.

"Well," Cilan spoke at last, clearing up all the tension in the air. "It appears my fellow Gym Leader Cress would be up to the task," he paused, and entered the Gym, shouting, "CRESS!" Black and White had to cover their ears due to the ferocity of Cilan's voice. It had maybe sounded like an earthquake to the local people, but they were used to Cilan getting all loud.

"Cress, get over here now! You're given the privilege to fight these guys so _hurry up_!" Cilan yelled, exasperated, while Black and White just stood there, unsure of what to do. Then Cilan burst back out of the Gym, accompanied by a man dressed in a similar attire as Cilan, with a mop of wavy marine blue hair. He smiled a little as he saw the two challengers laid out in front of him.

"Well then, I'm Cress. Nice to meet you two, now let's begin the challenge," Cress said with a slight smirk. "By the way, the male's Black and the female's White," Cilan pointed out. Black looked at White. "You want to go first? I'd like to observe that guy's battle style; besides, you're much better than me anyway." White's chest puffed up a bit in confidence, which caused Black to blush slightly and look away. "Alright, Black, I'll kick his ass for you."

Cilan was acting as the referee of the battle. "This will be a double battle for White and Cilan. Feel free to use any healing items, status curing products, et cetera. Now then, I'm done talking, so start fighting!"

"Let's go, Hog, Brav!" White confidently sent out her two main Pokemon for now, and a Tepig and Braviary appeared, eager for its next command. Cress noted the two Pokemon that she had and released two of his own as well. "Go, Lilipup, Simipour!"

Too enthusiastic to fight rather than analyze her opponent's Pokemon, White just carried on straight with the battle, directing her valiant bird Pokemon Braviary to dig its razor-sharp talons on Simipour's flesh, and ordering her fire pig Pokemon Tepig to exhale a blisteringly hot ember from its chest toward Lilipup. Cress's Pokemon sustained the damage; however their health were still above half for both of them. He kept a calm demeanor, issuing orders to both his Pokemon. "Both of you use Work Up!"

The two of Cress's Pokemon started to glow and were bathed in a strange vermillion light; Black noticed that they had increased in size by a slight bit and informed White, "Careful, White! I'm not sure what Work Up does but it probably increased their strength!"

"You're right, Black, sharp observation skills you've got there," Cress commented as he directed his Pokemon to both bite Tepig and Braviary. Their health depleted further more than Cress's Pokemon, earning a gasp of surprise from White. Unexpectedly, White smirked.

"Good move there, but it wasn't strong enough to take my Pokemon out," she said, and shouted, "Brav, summon a whirlwind upon them, and Hog, charge with fire on Lilipup!" The valiant bird Pokemon and fire pig Pokemon obeyed her instruction; Braviary swept up a gargantuan gust of dust particles and air, flipping toward Lilipup and Simipour like a boomerang, and stunning them. Tepig slammed at Lilipup in a fiery blaze, earning a shriek from it and causing it to faint. Cress returned his wounded Pokemon back into its red-and-white capsule, yet his grin had not been wiped off his face.

"It's time for the finale. Simipour, use Aqua Jet at Tepig!" The Simipour sped toward White's Hog like it was surfing, a jet of water expelling from its mouth as it swam with the water, smacking at the Tepig and causing it to faint.

"Looks like it's a one on one battle now," Cilan commented, chuckling. Black was rather unsure about who would win now. Sure, White was strong, but it appeared that Cress had the upper hand now.

"Don't give up, Brav! Soar up into the ceiling, now!" Braviary nodded as it shot up high in the ceiling; Cress tried to look at it but the lights above were glaring, and hurt his eyes. "Now, Brav, use Sky Attack!" The valiant bird Pokemon dove straight down with increasing velocity each second and minute, until the acceleration stopped and it flew at maximum speed, dropping drastically as the bird pummeled into the confused Simipour who did not react in time.

Cress stared at the crumpled form of his Simipour, lying faint on the ground, and retrieved his Pokemon back into the Pokeball, laughing a little. "Well, young lady, you sure fought really well. But you see, you have to beat all of us for the badge!" White gaped at him in shock, swiftly glancing at Black to see his expression as well; it was the same as hers. Cilan elbowed the blue-haired man and chuckled once more. "He's just kidding around. Go on, Cress, give the badge to the lady and fight the boy." Cress nodded, but said, "I'll give her once I'm done with Black."

Black stretched his rather gangly five foot seven frame as he whipped out his two Pokeballs from his bag. "Drill, Boar, I'm counting on you two." He whispered to his Pokemon, who nodded slightly, both of them eager to fight. He was done stretching and faced his opponent, Cress, and sized him up. Maybe around an inch taller than him, and another inch with his hair, Cress did not seem very intimidating to Black. After all, White had beaten him, but then again, White had beaten Black and Cheren as well.

Suddenly Cilan announced, "Oh, since Cress has had his fill of double battling, you two will face each other off in single battling now, so feel free to pick your Pokemon. One loss and it's game over." Black grinned slightly. Single battling was his speciality, not double battling, as he was not so good at coming up with combos and strategies like White.

"Let's go, Boar!" Black tossed the Pokeball containing his nicknamed Tepig out into the cool but slightly humid environment of the Gym area. Cress smirked; White and Black was already tired of Cress smirking too much. "Go, Simipour!" The marine-haired man released an azure-colored monkey that squirted out water from its armpits, laughing a little at the sight of another Tepig.

Cress cracked his worn knuckles, and cracked the bones in his sore neck as well; eyeing Black with hunger like a vulture would eye its helpless prey; ready to attack and eager to battle. Black returned the glare gladly, starting a staring contest that would last until one of them broke the spell and ordered their Pokemon. The atmosphere was tense, and White silently cheered for Black; Cilan doing the same for his fellow Gym Leader.

Black chuckled. "Guess it's up to me to start, huh? Let's begin with Tail Whip, Boar!" The red and black colored pig growled at the enemy and turned around, allowing Simipour and Cress to see its backside, and wagged its tail with a slight ferocity. The Simipour watched, dazed, its eyes like glassy mirrors as he lowered his guard for the battle.

"Snap out of it, Simipour, use Water Gun!" Cress roared, and Simipour roared as well, except her roar was much more effective; it had even expelled a gushing wave of water resembling a miniature tsunami. "Dodge now, Boar!" Tepig did a forward roll on the ground and missed most of the water, but some squirted on his nose and eyes, causing him to hiss steam from his nostrils in pain.

Tepig steadied itself, wobbling a bit, but fixated its beady black eyes on Simipour, which had a gloating expression on her face. "Your attack didn't do much," Black taunted. "Could it be you're that easy?" Cress hid an irritated face and tried to cover it with a smirk. "That was just a taste. Wait until you eat the full extent of Simipour's strength!"

"Boar, confuse the enemy with Smokescreen!" Black yelled; his Pokemon obeying his instructions, and White together with Cilan stood at the side, mesmerized by the battle. A dark and thick cloud swirled around the blue-haired Gym Leader and his Pokemon, caused them to sneeze. Black took advantage of the situation and directed Tepig to deliver a headbutt. A cry resounded from Simipour, but no one knew what was going on due to the oolong grey smoke that had ejected from Tepig's nostrils, and when the fog subsided, Tepig stood triumphant over the beaten Simipour.

Cress stood dumbfounded as he sank to his knees and cradled his Pokemon with an expression of slight pride. Cilan clapped and walked over to Black, White following his heels. "Good job, young man. We, as two of the Gym Leaders of Striaton City, are obliged to present to you two of our signature Gym Badges – the Basic Badge. Oh, and also, we would like to give these two Technical Machines to you." Cilan held out a metal disc of no color and a shiny badge for both Black and White. Cress straightened and congratulated the two rookie trainers, who merely beamed at each other, satisfied that they had cleared the first step to becoming the Champion.

Black and White had a meal in one of the nearby restaurants after that, using the money earned from the Gym Battle to pay for their expenses. Black had a burger and fries while White had a salad with Oran berries, and both ordered Soda Pop for drinks. The sun was setting slowly, resembling a painting in a museum, with orange contours vividly stretched over the horizon as the cool night atmosphere replaced the warmer daytime atmosphere. It was springtime, and the sun set earlier, with streaks of darkness starting to envelop the sky, everything was peaceful.

Black and White stayed in the nursery along the path leading away from Striaton City to Nacrene City, training their Pokemon for a week with the energetic and bubbly children owning Lilipups, Purrloins, and Patrats; some of the kids had Panpour, Pansage, and Pansears, all the unevolved forms of the Striaton Gym Leaders' Pokemon. The nursery aides greatly appreciated them entertaining the children, and provided food and water for the two friends, free of charge.

Their peaceful training and rest abruptly halted when suddenly, during the early morning, a cry belonging to a young girl was heard in the area, waking Black up quickly. He was slightly drowsy, as he had fought lots of young children who posed quite a challenge to his Pokemon the day before, but he had clearly heard the shriek. He was sleeping in the same room as White, although his bed was near the door, and hers was next to the window. He saw that she was still asleep; she had kicked her blanket off onto the chilly laminated wood tiles, and her nose was running. Black had a sudden strange urge to brush her smooth chocolate brown hair behind her ear, but fought it and instead carefully draped the blanket on her so she would keep warm. He then grabbed his cap and flopped on top of his head, and burst out of the nursery, rearing to locate the source of the scream. But as he left the housing, he failed to notice the chestnut-haired girl's small smile.

Black hesitantly walked along the quiet pavement away from the nursery that led to a crossroads; one leading to a dark, smelly cave and another leading to Nacrene City. Logically he thought, 'What kind of person would scream near Nacrene City? It's a bright rural area with kind folk, if I have heard correctly.' So he trudged toward the cave mouth, revealing a damp and high ceiling dripping rusted water from used pipes and heard yet another faint cry from the cave, confirming his suspicions about the location. Black started to break in a run, zigzagging around the jagged rocks like some professional soccer player and spotting the source of the sound. A woman wearing the Team Plasma overalls gripped the shirt of a young girl no older than ten, who struggled to cry out, pain rippling throughout her body. "Give us your Pokemon!" The woman roared. The girl, though weaker and helpless, mumbled in a strangled voice, "No way."

There were many things Black did not like in his fellow humans. One of them was picking on someone smaller sized. "Hey, you," He yelled out in his loudest voice, echoing all about the cave. The Team Plasma grunt shifted her attention to Black, her grip loosening on the girl, a mocking sneer plastered upon her face.

"Beat it, kid," she grimaced at Black. "Get lost or I'll be forced to do what I've done to the girl to you." To prove her point, she waved a Pokeball threateningly in front of him. Black did not waver, and stood his ground; poised at any immediate threat, and ready to send out his two partners, if necessary.

Gritting her teeth, the Team Plasma woman tossed a Pokeball out, revealing a Trubbish. A smell found its way up Black's nose, causing him to gag a little at the horrific stench. His opponent was prepared for this; she wore a mask over her pimpled face, and then shoved the now unconscious girl aside. "Drill, come on out!" Black mumbled as best as he could, releasing the mole Pokemon, who in turn gagged as much as he did. "Fuse did!" Black yelled in a muffled tone, but Excadrill did not understand what kind of move was Fuse did, so it merely cringed at the not-so wonderful aroma.

Black understood he was not going to give out orders well anytime soon, so he stopped holding his breath and yelled out, "Use dig!" Excadrill was down to business, and hastily drilled a hole deep down and hidden from the sight of the enemy.

A nerve in the woman's jaw twitched as she angrily looked around for the annoying pest of the Excadrill. Her expression wavered as suddenly the ground under her shook and wobbled, threatening to give way under her. "How… I thought you told Excadrill to use Dig?" The woman asked, confused. Black had the same expression on his face; he did not cause an earthquake. The tremors increased in intensity, threatening to knock Black off his feet, and he watched as the Team Plasma grunt was helplessly swallowed in the earth.

Excadrill popped its nose out of the crumbled rocks, staring at Black for new orders. He returned the mole Pokemon back to its Pokeball and started making his way out of the cave, but a jagged rock the size of a car slammed down in front of him, making the escape impossible. He saw there was a small opening small enough for a ten year old to fit through, so he picked up the unconscious little girl and her Pokemon and squeezed her out.

But he was stuck. Alone, and trapped in a cave. "Oh well, at least there's nothing to bother me now, it's rather peaceful anyway." Black sighed in an attempt to comfort himself. What happened next was as if nature wanted to contradict his words; a swarm of Woobat suddenly flocked toward him, walloping him with invisible psychic waves, contorting his body in extreme pain. The Woobat had assumed he was the cause of the earthquake, thus they found it natural to attack. His bag was torn now and the Pokeballs rolled out, releasing a Tepig and an Excadrill, who desperately tried to defend their master by roasting and throwing rocks at the Woobat horde. But no matter how many Woobats fell upon the ground, many more swarmed to replace the fallen ones and their numbers started to overwhelm the two courageous and loyal Pokemon. Black had long since fainted from the ordeal, but as the two Pokemon were battling side by side, Excadrill motioned for Tepig to leave and find help; the pig refused as it wanted to stay and fight by his partners, but Excadrill slammed the fire pig with the force of a bulldozer, sending it propelling through the small hole the young girl had slipped through. It uttered a cry as it saw the Excadrill attempt to shield its master from the hits, but steeled its nerves as it bounded off toward the nursery, rearing to get help.

And help would surely arrive, most likely from the sleeping girl in the nursery.

 **Well hopefully that cliffhanger was decent. Black's trapped in a cave due to an earthquake, but what exactly caused the earthquake? Find out in the next chapter of Monochrome Adventures!**

 **Any criticism would be appreciated.**

 **REVIEW!**


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